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Over the summer CMC performed a comprehensive test of a number of importantC-ITS safety applications for motorcycles at the Aldenhoven Testing Ground nearAachen/Germany. The purpose of the test was to evaluate possible accidentscenarios between a motorcycle and a car and to check the system settings inorder to best inform the driver and rider how to mitigate dangerous situations.

Preparations for the CMC test

Motorcycle approaching information is a key safety featureA typical situation that motorcyclists experience is when a car approaches from aside road on to the main road where the motorcyclist has priority. It can oftenhappen that the car driver slows down but doesn’t completely stop his vehicle. Inwhich case the motorcyclist is unsure, if the car driver has seen/recognised himand the question is whether the rider should brake, and possibly risk anotherdangerous situation for vehicles following him? To help avoid such criticalsituations, the motorcycle and car communicate to each other and the car driverreceives an indication/warning message to watch out for the motorcycle on thepriority road.In order to make this happen, cars and motorcycles have to exchange standardizedmessages, called CAM and DENM messages which includes comprehensive set ofinformation about vehicle status, such as speed, direction and/or the brakingsituation. To enable this communication to take place, CMC specialists haveprogrammed software and tested it in laboratories. Verification however needs tobe done in ‘real world’ scenarios and the Aldenhoven testing ground providesperfect surroundings with a variety of road layouts to check the systems.

Typical scenario : the car driver might not see the motorcycle

Warning timing is crucialThe precise time when actually to warn the vehicle users is a highly importantfactor. In other words, when has the motorcycle rider or car driver passed a criticalthreshold and when is it required to show the warning in both the motorcycle andthe car? If warnings come too early, confidence and acceptance of the system willbe undermined. If a warning comes too late, everyone can imagine theconsequences! CMC tested several scenarios over a number of speeds to validatethe assumptions made in the laboratory. Calibrations to the systems were done onthe spot and setups were improved during the testing sessions.

With connectivity the car driver gets a warning on the dashboard

EEBL – brake light indication very usefulThe so called EEBL (Electronic Emergency Brake Light) application was also testedin Aldenhoven and proved being very useful. With this system, the motorcycle riderreceives information on the dashboard when another vehicle is undergoing hardbraking and this is particularly useful if there is no direct line of sight, for example ifa truck is between the braking vehicle and the motorcycle. This way the rider canbe warned earlier, to avoid rear end collisions.CMC added important fine tuning to the algorithms being developed and optimizedthe best suitable timing for the warning to be issued to the motorcycle rider.